Throttle Body Pandemic of Ford Makes

[George]

I found someone else on a forum that had Throttle body issues. This may give you some confidence, here's what they had to say:

We took the bird to Hollister to Tiffany Ford this past Tuesday 9. Although the codes were cleared they listened to us and looked at the bird and the TSB we had in hand. They ordered the TPS which our local dealer told us wouldn't be available until March 15.
It arrived the next day. The bird stumbled and died 3 times on the way home that Tuesday leaving not only the wrench light, but also the check engine light. We returned today, Friday 12 with codes to read. The TPS was changed and the PCM was reprogrammed to read the new part. The trip home was swift and uneventful. This should take care of it. Time will tell.

[tbird_gal]

I meant to update the list on this so information, sorry for the delay.
The shop foreman at my Ford/Lincoln explained to me that when the cylinder misfires and becasue the Throttle body Assembly is right near this area it can cause false throttle boddy error codes to be thrown,SO PLEASE, PLEASE, get the COPs info that george has provided us all and make your dealer test for COPs before you pay for a 1000.00 Throttle Body Assembly replacement.

He also told me that sometimes when the cylinder misfires there is no engine error codes thrown at all which has made this a diffcilut problem to diagnose and replace.
Godd luck everyone!
-shirley

[George]

Shirley:
Did you ever get a refund for the throttle body you didn't need, or at least the old parts back????? Or maybe you're still after them....
Your persistency paid off and now they're listening to you. That's great

Patrica: How did you make out? Was it really COPS? Sounds like your story is the same as Shirleys.

By the way, I prefer and use a Lincoln dealer.....Ford dealers know nothing about these cars because all the drive train is Lincoln LS and the Lincoln's have had similar issues and as I hear, recalls

Why don't Ford dealers know? Because the 2002-2005 Thunderbirds are the only Ford products that uses Lincoln drive trains and they are different than any other car offered in the Ford product lines, FYI.

[Sterling]

My ETB went out Thanksgiving of last year. After having the car for a month and paying for my own rental, I was able to locate a used ETB and take it to the dealership. This was just before New Year's, and they installed the part I brought them and gave me the old one back. A day later, the car went in limp mode again, but after driving a little bit and bringing the engine up to temp, it ran fine. I had to take it back in and they did something with the processor that links up to the ETB, and it's been fine since. I think they did a rush job when they installed the part I brought them, and then kept blaming it on the fact that it was a used part. I am still very frustrated and will be voicing my complaints everywhere I can. A service tech at the dealership I bought the car from said the problem with the supply of ETB's was due a redesign of the part, taking it from a heated element to a nonheated element. It sounds to me that Ford knew there was a problem, but decided it didn't rise to the level of a recall or payment.

[George]

Originally Posted by George

I found someone else on a forum that had Throttle body issues. This may give you some confidence, here's what they had to say:

We took the bird to Hollister to Tiffany Ford this past Tuesday 9. Although the codes were cleared they listened to us and looked at the bird and the TSB we had in hand. They ordered the TPS which our local dealer told us wouldn't be available until March 15.
It arrived the next day. The bird stumbled and died 3 times on the way home that Tuesday leaving not only the wrench light, but also the check engine light. We returned today, Friday 12 with codes to read. The TPS was changed and the PCM was reprogrammed to read the new part. The trip home was swift and uneventful. This should take care of it. Time will tell.

And, here's the part numbers they got to resolve their problem:

"The part #6L2Z-9B989-C. No charge under extended warranty.
Reprogramming PCM Per T.S.B. 05-14-04 $125.00 for labor.
Deductible: $100.00. $225.00 and out the door.
846 miles and a month later it has been running flawlessly. I was wondering also about the availability stories of the TPS. They had it the next day." Hope this helps someone out there. This guy is in CA

[dchamb9414]

has anyone noticed that the '02 tbirds have the least amount of issues discussed in this forum. i (wife's) had an' 03 and it was so problematic that i sold it. i have an '02 with 40,000 miles and it keeps going with no issues, (hope i haven't jinxed myself). i went through the cops thing with the '03, cd player problems, air conditioner etc.

[tbird_gal]

Just to clarify, I did not have a Throttle Body System installed. I first had them replace the throttle body SENSOR, much less expensive but still 300.00
and the car went into Limp mode as I droive it off the lot from service.
Yes, Ford repair claimed that there were Throttle body error codes thrown when the car went into limp mode and I got the wrench light.

After It died AGAIN, while leaving the Ford service center, I insisted they test for COPs and they ran the diagnostics and this was indeed the problem. Again, as explained to me by the Ford shop foreman, when the cylinder misfires it occurs near the location of the Throttle body which causes false error codes and might be why they are reading Throttle Body codes off the cars computer and telling everyone this is a Throttle Body issue.

I'm really not a big, "Conspiracy theory" person but the COPs fix is free to customers, meaning Ford makes no money off of the customer and it ties up Ford Repair ... I am thinking that they are charging for Throttle Body replacements as a way of recapturing money lost from performing the COPs work. Whether they actually tell you they did the COPs fix or not, so I am thinking they are doing the COPS repair on a lot of your cars, maybe not even telling you and then actually telling customers, It is a throttlebody and making a good 1000.00 off the customer.

Too many people have had the Throttle Body system replaced, left or attempted to leave the dealer and the car went right into limp mode, I'm betting those cars got a COPs fix as the next service and you are beig told it was something related to Throttle body. Think about it, otherwise the repair shop would be reimbursing you for a false throttle body fix.

That is my Ford conspiracy theory :]

[Sterling]

My 2004 Tbird had throttle body issues in the fall. After being without my car for months and paying for my own rental car (thank Ford) I finally got the issue addressed. Now, less than six months later, my car went into limp mode again. I came very close to getting rear ended on a 50 mph street and barely made it home. I love my car, but I think this is the last straw.

[George]

Sounds exactly like COPS, coil on plugs, to me And you're covered up to 100,000 miles for just that

[tbird_gal]

I agree with George, you have a COPs issue. Print out the ford documentation that George has placed on this website and walk into the service dealer and get the service manager and demand they run the COPs test.

I've posted about this before, as I was much like the half dozen other owners who was trying to be sold a Throttle Boddy system(close 1K) as the repair for Limp mode.
PLEASE, PLEASE demand the COPs test be run before you agree to paying 800-1000.00 for a Throttle Body System

I let them talk me into replacing the Throttle Body Sensor(300.00) and the car died(limp mode) as I left the parking lot. So PLEASE - Demand the COPs test. Unless of course you feel like donating 1K to your local Ford service shop.


Lastly, the shop foreman pulled me off to the side and told me that he contacted his friend at the Lincoln service shop nearby and was told that this COPs problem can be related to a "Heat" issue, not sure if he meant the heat coming off of the engine itself ... thus even after repaired this could could happen to all of us again.

Good luck!

[George]

Thanks tbird_gal, good to see you posting again.
There is another test that can be done someone suspects they have COPS issues and want the error message to come up.
If there's a steep hill close by, go up slowly , in high gear, so as to make the engine labor. By doing this an error message will come up if you have COPS issues. Don't turn the car off, go directly to the dealer and show them the error code. Or if you do shut it down, write the code down so you don't forget.
Finally, since the engine in our Birds is Lincoln LS, the Lincoln dealers have more experience dealing with the COPS because they service both the LS's and TBirds. Therefore, a Lincoln dealer is your best bet for service. IMHO